AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“No and yes,” Killion said, finally pushing away from his computer to explain the details as he knew them. “It doesn’t work. Why would they give a heads-up and protect you two from the setup they were responsible for? These are two different things here. One is setting up, and one is protecting still. Which one belongs to the DNA and your family tree?”
“I’m going with whoever belongs to the DNA is the one who has insight on all of us and has been feeding the information. It makes sense, right? Family. Family protects family,” Ayelish said. “But what are they trying to protect you from? Who? Whatdon’twe know?”
“That’s the twenty-five-million-dollar question,” Wit said.
“Times two,” Hen tacked on. “And if it’s their DNA at the crime scenes, why did they kill our foster families? Or is it another setup?”
“Um.” Relay interrupted. “I think there’s another important detail to point out here.”
“If you’re related to the unsub or whoever the DNA belongs to, you’re also…”
“Related to each other,” Wit finished. “I think that’s a given we’ve already established.”
“Well… according to this, Wit and Hen…” Killion hesitated a moment before offering the plot twist none of them saw coming. “You’re brothers.”
18
Wit saton the balcony of his apartment staring over the moonlit city below. It was late, really late, and he had more on his mind than he had the capacity to process at that hour. The city was oddly quiet as streetlights flashed red and green, and stars twinkled off the eerily calm river. There was a single car crossing a bridge in the distance, which struck him as odd. It seemed the bustling city slept at night, and he’d never noticed it at that hour—or life was suddenly running in slow motion. He couldn’t tell the difference.
The past couple of days went by in a flash, but the past few hours felt like a lifetime to Wit. His entire world had shifted with two little words:you’re brothers.
Ayelish found Wit outside and joined him. Quiet at first, she simply let her presence be known in case he wasn’t interested in company at the moment, though she hoped he was. She watched on as Duchess purred around the back of his neck, and he pet Duke the squirrel who rested on his chest. It was hard to read him at the moment, but just like she was worried for him, it seemed his quirky sidekicks were too as they were both comforting him.
“I made some soup,” he said without turning to acknowledge her. It was like he felt her presence and just knew she was there. “Decided I wasn’t hungry after all, so I put it in the fridge. It’s probably still warm.”
She walked in next to where he sat and ran her hand through his hair. “It’s late. You should come to bed.”
“I can’t, Aye.” Wit snaked his arm around her waist and leaned his head against her hip. “I’ve been talking to Hen for hours and have so much runnin’ through my head right now.”
“I’m sure it’s overwhelming,” she replied. “I can’t even imagine what it must be like for the two of you.”
“You know he has a cat too? Were you still there when he talked about that?”
Ayelish chuckled. “No, I wasn’t. The real question is whether he has a squirrel too.”
“Nah. His cat found itself a raccoon. Can you believe that?” He snickered. “Now who do you know that has a raccoon? It lives inside and uses a litter box. Ain’t that the damnedest thing?”
“Somehow, that doesn’t surprise me.” She smiled.
“Must be in the DNA, ya know?” Wit stroked his chin with his free hand. “Damnedest thing.”
“Could be.” Ayelish gripped his hand from her hip and held it in hers while she moved to the coffee table in front of him and sat. “You both went through more as children than most do in an entire lifetime. Maybe those instincts to protect and care for come from that? A silver lining… if there can be one?”
“Yeah. Maybe,” he said in short, still lost in thought and fixated on the city in the distance. “I wonder who that DNA we match belongs to.”
“Any ideas?”
“Lots.” He snorted. “None that make sense, though.”
“You want to talk it out, see if anything does make sense?” she asked.
“I think I’ve exhausted all the options, and I’m not too confident in my investigative skills after today’s bomb dropped on me.” He shrugged. “Truth is, I have no idea what family I had then, or have now. I knew I had a mama, my siblings, and a daddy who never came back for us, so guessin’ he’s passed on. But I suppose it’s possible he didn’t, and that lends the question… why didn’t he come for us?”
Ayelish didn’t say a word because she didn’t have the answer, and even if she did, it wouldn’t make Wit feel any better.
“You know we’re Irish twins? Ain’t that funny, you bein’ Irish and me wantin’ to be an O’Reilly when we get married.” He snickered. “I thought that was real funny.”
“It is funny, and we’ll have to talk about that whole O’Reilly thing.” She giggled. “What else did you learn about your brother?”
